AP photoAttorney General Eric Holder listens at left as Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano speaks at the Justice in Washington, Aug. 3, 2011, to discuss the results of the largest U.S. prosecution of an international criminal network organized to sexually exploit children. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

Rush Frank Blankenship, 26, among those arrested by special agents with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations, pleaded guilty to that charge on Sept. 1, in U.S. District Court in Shreveport, Louisiana, according to a spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Western District of Louisiana.

Although a press release issued last month by U.S. Immigration and Customs officials gave Blankenship’s hometown as Westfield, he had since moved to Monson, according to public records.

Blankenship is slated to be sentenced on Dec. 1 at 10 a.m., according to the U.S. Attorney’s office.

Prosecutors say those charged used an online bulletin board called “Dreamboard“ to trade violent sexual images.

U.S. attorney general Eric Holder and Homeland Security secretary Janet Napolitano announced on Aug. 3 that a 20-month law enforcement effort, called Operation Delego, targeted more than 600 Dreamboard members around the world for allegedly participating in the private, members-only Internet club created to promote pedophilia.

Numerous participants in the network sexually abused children ages 12 and under, produced images and video of the abuse and then shared it with other club members, according to court papers released in the case.

To conceal their conduct, members used screen names rather than actual names and accessed the bulletin board via proxy servers, with Internet traffic routed through other computers to disguise a user’s location, according to the court papers.

Participants were required to continually upload images of child sexual abuse to maintain their membership.

Blankenship was one of 21 suspects listed in federal indictments filed on June 15 in Shreveport, La.

According to the indictment, Blankenship published three separate advertisements in April and May 2010 on Dreamboard in which he offered to distribute files containing child pornography. Blankenship allegedly used the online alias “14yrsmax.” and posted video and image files to the site labeled “Girl with Dog,“ “Nice small sets” and “Candle.”

Those who have been sentenced for their roles in the conspiracy so far have received prison sentences ranging from 22 to 30 years. Each has also received a lifetime of supervised release following his release from prison as part of their sentence.